The "Recommended by" thread

[Trollheart]

Oh it is friggin' amazing Ki! Like the first album in years (other than the next one coming up, again kindly rec'd by Ant) where I've literally sat talking to myself going "I love this album! How can this be so good??"

Oh, and I've just heard the extra demos on the second CD for the first time. Even they're excellent! Jesus! I may just be in love with this guy! I hope I don't find out this was one diamond in a pile of fake pearls! Is the rest of his stuff this good? You are required to say yes or I may have to kill myself in disappointment. And then you. No, that wouldn't work. Other way round.

[Trollheart]

The tall ships --- It Bites --- Recommended by Anteater

It may seem like everything I'm posting here is recommended by two people, and to some extent it is, but nobody has really recommended anything else to me at least that I can remember. If anything comes to mind I will post it. Actually, now I think of it as I'm typing this there were a few from The Batlord, so I'll try to include one of those next.

For now, this was It Bites' first album in almost two decades, such a long gap that you could be forgiven for thinking they had split up. In some ways they had. Original singer and guitarist Francis Dunnery had left, and he was the heart and soul of the band. He was eventually replaced (after being asked back and hmming and hawing over it) by John Mitchell, late of Arena, Kino and Frost* among others, and the band has never sounded better.

I've already extensively reviewed this in my journal, and it featured in the Prog Rock Album Club --- which was where the rec from Ant came from --- so I won't go into it in too much detail here, except to say that if you approach this album with an open mind you may be surprised. Like already-featured "Epicloud" above, this album just gets better with every track. Unlike Devin's effort though, it is very slightly let down by the odd below-par track, but only one or maybe two.

It Bites have always described themselves as "Progressive Pop", and that's what you get here in abundance: hooky melodies that could easily grace any airwave, while still retaining the prog rock goodness we all love. Closer "This is England" clocks in at nearly fourteen minutes, while "The wind that shakes the barley" is over eight, so there's no shortage of epics. But it's in shorter, snappier songs like "Ghosts", the opener "Oh my God", "Lights" and "The memory of water" that this album really shines.

My favourite though is the title track; just can't praise it enough. A celtic-infused melody with a hook to die for and some sterling axework from Mitchell, it's the jewel in this gem-laden crown. And that's to say nothing of the ballads which flow as easily as water over stones in a gentle brook, all ushered on by Mitchell's underappreciated vocal talents. Just special.

If you thought "It Bites" were all about "Calling all the heroes", or you have never heard of them or never tried their music, this is the album that could very well convert you. The comeback of all comebacks, as far as I'm concerned. As I featured in my journal, "Gobsmacked."

Rec rating: 9.5/10 (only fails to get full marks because of a few tiny little niggles that aren't an issue with "Epicloud")

[Trollheart]

Random access memories --- Daft Punk --- Recommended by everyone

Yeah yeah I know: it's about bloody time you old progger you! Get with the program etc. First of all, I know or knew nothing of this band, second all I heard (other than knicker-melting praise from every quarter) was that it used a lot of vocoders and was like seventies disco, two things I do not like. So I thought it ain't for me. You all probably know by now I'm not one to just jump on the bandwagon and say I like an album just because everyone else digs it (cough) Loveless (cough)!

But flash forward a few months and I'm watching TV and an ad comes on for this album. They play "Get lucky" and I think hell that ain't bad at all! So I take the chance and download the album and ... well, read on.

The thing that perhaps got me over my hatred of vocoders was listening to YorkeDaddy's album, "Frownland". When I listened to the opener on this I just sort of thought of "Welcome to the party" (whaddya mean, you haven't heard cloudcover's album yet? Get to their website asap!) and things began to slot into place. I really enjoyed the first track and then was surprised at how mellow it all went. I was expecting dancy, disco vibes and what I got, er, wasn't. It was all a lot slower, mostly, and more ambient than I had been prepared for.

Even the faster tracks, such as "Lose yourself to dance" and of course "Get lucky" I found I really liked, though you can keep "Doin' it right", and as for "Giorgio by Moroder"? Come on: the idea's cool but do you really want to hear our Giorgio talk about his dreams about being a musician and how he discovered synthesisers when you're playing the album for the eleventh time? It wears real old real quick. The problem is that the music backing it is so good that I can't just skip it. Bah. Maybe there's some way to strip out his vocal?

Everything else I like, and this is, rather belatedly admittedly, becoming one of my most spun albums of the last week or so. I love the closer too: the energy and sense of fun in "Contact" is just a perfect one to end on. Overall I'm extremely impressed, and though as I say I held out for a good while I'm now down with all you guys and girls and may even buy a robot mask.

Note: I will not be buying a robot mask.

Rec rating: 9/10 (Only loses out because of Giorgio bloody Moroder and his waffling....)

[DriveYourCarDownToTheSea]

Originally Posted by Trollheart

Random access memories --- Daft Punk --- Recommended by everyone

...

After reading your review I decided to try listening to this album for maybe the 4th or 5th time ... and it still doesn't work for me. I really just don't get it. It's like being transported back to somewhere in the 70's or 80's (depending on the song) and getting some second-rate band played in a cheap club.

What am I missing.

[djchameleon]

Originally Posted by DriveYourCarDownToTheSea

After reading your review I decided to try listening to this album for maybe the 4th or 5th time ... and it still doesn't work for me. I really just don't get it. It's like being transported back to somewhere in the 70's or 80's (depending on the song) and getting some second-rate band played in a cheap club.

What am I missing.

You are supposed to look at it like a journey through time for dance music starting up in late 70s and working it's way up to a glimpse of the future that's what you get from the last track Contacts.

[Trollheart]

Chasing locusts --- Strawfoot --- Recommended by Goofle

As ever, I'm a magpie and I love cool covers and cool names. When I saw this mentioned in Goofle's journal and heard it was "gothic country" I had to have a listen. I've only heard it through the once, but there are only three words I can now use to describe this album, and quite possibly this band:

DAMN GOOD FUN!

Chock-full of fiddles, pedal steel and harmonicas, it opens like one of those old western movies, like something the cowboys would sing as they rode across the plains in search of cattle, or possibly a career, or waited for a train to rob. Then it just jumps into a rip-roarin' fest of reels, jigs, barn and sqaure dances and hoedowns and just about everything else associated with country and maybe folk. I don't to be honest see the gothicity in it; seems pretty upbeat to me. But then I haven't really paid too much attention to the lyrics and this is my first listen, so perhaps on further spins (which there will certainly be) I may change my mind. Kind of puts me in mind of what Nick Cave would sound like if he made a Country album...

The voice of founder and singer Marcus Eder, also known as the Dapper King of Libertine, fits these songs perfectly, and I think it's so cool that Wiki tells me he's some distant relation to Mark Twain. How much more "Southahn" can you get?

I would single out favourite tracks but as I say I've only heard it the once, but there's nothing here I don't like. Great rec Goof! Have to start paying more attention to your journal in terms of the actual music.

Rec rating: gotta be in the area of 8/10, and may increase after I've listened a few more times. Now to un-Spotify this and go buy the thing!

[LoathsomePete]

Originally Posted by Trollheart

Chasing locusts --- Strawfoot --- Recommended by Goofle

As ever, I'm a magpie and I love cool covers and cool names. When I saw this mentioned in Goofle's journal and heard it was "gothic country" I had to have a listen. I've only heard it through the once, but there are only three words I can now use to describe this album, and quite possibly this band:

DAMN GOOD FUN!

Chock-full of fiddles, pedal steel and harmonicas, it opens like one of those old western movies, like something the cowboys would sing as they rode across the plains in search of cattle, or possibly a career, or waited for a train to rob. Then it just jumps into a rip-roarin' fest of reels, jigs, barn and sqaure dances and hoedowns and just about everything else associated with country and maybe folk. I don't to be honest see the gothicity in it; seems pretty upbeat to me. But then I haven't really paid too much attention to the lyrics and this is my first listen, so perhaps on further spins (which there will certainly be) I may change my mind. Kind of puts me in mind of what Nick Cave would sound like if he made a Country album...

The voice of founder and singer Marcus Eder, also known as the Dapper King of Libertine, fits these songs perfectly, and I think it's so cool that Wiki tells me he's some distant relation to Mark Twain. How much more "Southahn" can you get?

I would single out favourite tracks but as I say I've only heard it the once, but there's nothing here I don't like. Great rec Goof! Have to start paying more attention to your journal in terms of the actual music.

Rec rating: gotta be in the area of 8/10, and may increase after I've listened a few more times. Now to un-Spotify this and go buy the thing!

If you're interested in the genre, some asshole made a thread about it yonks ago.

[Trollheart]

Thanks Pete. I'll definitely have a look at that. Probably check out more of Strawfoot's stuff first though. Man, I really liked that!

[Trollheart]

Although I started this thread as a way for people to talk about the albums that were recommended to them, I don't suppose it would do any harm to drop in the odd rec from time to time, so here are two for Anteater, since he seems to like good ambient instrumental music.


Final breath --- Break my fucking sky --- Recommended for Anteater

I have no idea who these guys/girls/this guy/girl is/are but he/she/they have crafted an album of sheer brilliance here, with catchy melodies, luxurious soundscapes and a real feel for something special happening. If you liked "Found" so much man you should love this!



Caves of Glass --- Caves of Glass --- Recommended for Anteater

Not entirely instrumental but mostly, with some pretty cool metal licks added in. Bit of an unsettling vocal but it sort of fits in a weird way. Certainly different.

Lemme know what ya think ok?

[Trollheart]

Canyon candy --- Javelin --- Recommended by Junkyard Donner

Having listened to, and enjoyed, as above, Strawfoot I thought this would be a good way to continue my odyssey into a different side of Country Music. I remembered Steph posting about this in her journal a little while back and thought I'd give it a go. Started off well, with "Fievel goes west" sounding very, er, western-y, and then "Cowpoke" was good too, but a little bit in they started using these bloody phased samples --- I don't know what you call them: where the sound seems to come and go and warp, stop and start, that sort of thing ---which quickly becomes very annoying.

It's not the worst album, but it soon becomes apparent these guys are not serious and are just arseing around. Look, maybe they are serious but they don't come across that way. To me, this sounds like some college kids who broke into a studio on the way home from some frat party and decided to see what they could create with the equipment there. It's got a vaguely western/cowboy theme but it's very heavy-handed in nature, with lots of pedal steel, fiddles and sounds of horses walking, plus those deep-voiced vocals many Country singers utilise.

It's clever in its way, but it starts to become a case of Javelin beating you over the head with their "cleverness" and it wears old rather rapidly. By halfway through the album I had decided to give it up but persevered to the end just so I could say I did. But it's honestly at times like listening to parts of the soundtrack to every old cowboy movie you ever saw. Doesn't help that the tracks all come in around one to two minutes long, so any decent ideas don't hang around long enough to develop into anything.

I know Steph loved this, but well maybe it sounds better when you're drunk. I'm not drunk. I'm just glad I Spotified this, because if I had paid for it, no matter how little, it would have been too much. There's such a thing as being too clever guys. Not for me.

Rec rating: Honestly I can only manage a poor 4/10, and that's being generous. Won't be listening to this again.